Kaleb Warnock and his wife are taking their first entrepreneurial shot.

The El Paso couple is opening a franchised Tropical Smoothie Café Tuesday at 1513 N. Zaragoza, in a bustling area of the fast-growing East Side. It's in a shopping center next to a Planet Fitness.

"I love the idea of being an entrepreneur. I've always wanted to do it," said Warnock, 36, who plans to keep his full-time job as a law enforcement agent for now.

His wife, Paula Flores-Warnock, 29, a native of Torreón, Mexico, will be the restaurant's manager. It employs about 20 people.

The couple, with four children, are health and exercise enthusiasts who were dissatisfied with the fast-food choices available in El Paso, Warnock said.

"We were going to do our own smoothie restaurant" but then Warnock read a magazine article rating Tropical Smoothie Café as one of the nation's top franchises.

He went to Georgia, where the chain is based, and was blown away by the taste of their smoothies, including one with spinach and kale, he said.

He brought the franchise idea to the El Paso Small Business Development Center, where the couple had gone for help in putting together a business plan for opening a restaurant from scratch, as they had initially planned.

"You have to show them (Tropical Smoothie) that you have an idea and a plan. They check to make sure you have the capital. And they are military friendly," said Warnock, who served in the Navy for five years.

"This saved us a lot of bumps and bruises," he said.

The chain sells a wide variety of fruit smoothies, some with vegetables, from $4.79 to $5.29 per glass, Flores-Warnock reported. Sandwiches, wraps, and salads are priced from $4.79 to $6.99. The El Paso restaurant is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, 7 a.m.-9 p.m., weekdays; and 7 a.m.-7 p.m., on weekends.

It features an island-inspired decor, and an open layout that allows customers to see smoothies and food being made.

Art Anchondo, a business advisor at the Small Business Development Center, said he worked with the Warnocks for about two years.

A lot of first-time entrepreneurs have an attitude that they already know it all, Anchondo said.

"Kaleb is the opposite. He wants all the help he can get from us and the franchisor," Anchondo said. "I think their chances of success are good. Franchises offer a pretty good degree of security," and training, he said.

Rob Metcalf, Tropical Smoothie's franchise business consultant for the Central United States, which includes El Paso, said it's not unusual for a first-time entrepreneur to get a franchise.

"They are usually successful. Our system is simplistic in nature. It's a proven system," Metcalf said from the East El Paso restaurant last week. The key is to be customer and employee friendly, he said.

Metcalf said he's impressed with the Warnocks because "they ask the right questions, and detailed questions. They want to know why. That shows dedication to themselves and their business."

Tropical Smoothie Cafe, based in Atlanta, has grown to about 470 locations in 19 years. It's aiming to have 800 locations nationwide by 2018.

The chain's growth took off after Atlanta venture firm BIP Capital invested in the company in 2010, Metcalf said.

Warnock said getting the franchise was expensive, but declined to divulge financial details. A loan helped the couple get the franchise, he said.

It takes an initial investment of $195,550 to $427,130 to start a franchised location, according to information on the company's Web site. A franchisee needs $125,000 in available cash and a net worth of at least $350,000 to qualify for a franchise, according to the company.

The chain's sales at existing locations increased 11.3 percent last year compared to 2014. Annual sales average $578,000 per location. However, the top half of the chain's restaurants have a higher annual average of $734,000 in sales, the company reported.

Warnock said he has plans in the works for two more El Paso locations: One in West Towne Marketplace, a huge shopping center just starting construction at Interstate 10 and Artcraft on the far West Side; and negotiations are underway to try to put a location in The Fountains at Farah at Interstate 10 and Hawkins on the East Side, he said.

The Zaragoza cafe will have its grand opening celebration Tuesday beginning at 7 a.m., with giveaways, food tastings, and entertainment from a magician. The first 50 customers will get free smoothies for a year.